Apparatus for sealing jars and bottles.



. R. E, MEYER.

APPARATUS FOR SEALING JARS AND BOTTLES. APPLICATION rum) JAN.2,1903.RENEWED AUG. 7, 1909.

QQQJ ZQ Patented June 6,1911.

3 SHEETS-SHEET l.

l I "ITJVE S SE S. Q 1.1V" I 'EN'TOR R. E. MEYER.

APPARATUS FOR SEALING JARS AND BOTTLES.

APPLIOATION FILED 11111.2, 1903. RENEWED AUG. 7, 1909. ggzg 1 79Patented June 6,1911.

3 SEEETSSHEET 2.

TTJVESSES,

. I I 01170771 eg s.

R. E. MEYER. APPARATUS IOR SEALING JARS AND BOTTLES. 111 1101111011FILED 1111.2, 1903. RENEWED AUG. 7, 1909.

9941 1 3%, Patented Junefi, 1911.

3 BHEETSSHEET 3.

WITNESSES. IJVVEJVTOR.

0 17110172 eys coarse.

, citizen of the United States of America, re-

UNMED srn'rns Parana carton RICHARD E. MEYER, OF DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

APPARATUS ron SEALING JARS AND ror'rrns Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented June 6, 1911.

Application filed January 2, 1903, Serial No. 137,448. Renewed August 7,1909. Serial No. 511,810. I

To all whom itmay concern:

Be it known that I, RICHARD E. MEYER, a

sidin at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and gtate of Michigan, haveinvented certain new and useful Improvements in Apparatus for SealingJars and Bottles, of which the following is a specification, referencebeing had therein to the accompanying, drawings.

nection with sealing devices involving the use of a metallic band or capin connection with a sealing disk or its equivalent pressed upon themouth of a jar or bottle and held in place thereon by the band or caphaving its lower edge or portion thereof forced into engagement with alocking shoulder on the neck of the jar or bottle. Manyforms of sealingdevices of this character have been disclosed in prior patents. In someof these,

bands are employed formed by rolling sheet metal into the desired shapeand these bands may have their ends open or closed, it is also common todetachably secure the ends of the hands together. In others, caps areused which are formed by stamping sheet metal into the desired shape. Asmy invention includes the use of both caps and bands, I use the term caphereafter'as being interchangeable with the word band, also in speakingof jars only, I mean bottles and packages 0 other description as well.

My invention has particular reference to an apparatus for sealing by theuse of sealing devices of this general character as well as for use inconnection with the par ticular sealing'device described in, my LettersPatents No. 711,452 and in which a glass cover and rubber gasket are theequivalent of the sealing disk in forming what I call an outside seal asdistinguished from an inside seal in which the rubber, gasket would beplaced beneath the cover instead of being above the cover.

In the present state of the art of sealing jars, involving the use'of ametallic cap in the manner above described, the general method followed,is to first press the cap upon the mouth of the jar, the sealing disk orits equivalent being interposed between it and the jar and then, whilethe pressure is being maintained, to lock the cap in engage ment withthe jar by pressing the lower edge or portion thereof under the lockingshoul- My invention is designed for use in conder. To obtain a perfecthermetic seal by this method considerable pressure has to be applied,but as the amount of this pressure must depend entirely upon thestrength of the body of the jar, it is obvious, that the application ofthe method is limited to jars of greater strength than could be usedwith other sealing devices. In sealing hermetically by the abovedescribed method it must also be taken into account that even if thecaps are made of hard metal, there will always be a little looseness inthe fastening after the pressure is taken on. There is always a slightresiliency tolany metal available for the purpose and the mere bendin orforcing of the loweredge thereof into surface contact with the lockingshoulder does not set the cap in such absolute surface 1 pressure mustbe applied greater than is merely required to produce a seal audit isnot alone necessary that the sealing disk should be compressible but itmust also be expansible like rubber. The above described method inpresent use has therefore certain limitations and to remove these I haveinvented a new method and an apparatus for carrying it out. According tomy new method I support the lower edgeor dependingportions of the capduring the act of applying pressure thereto in such manner thatsimultaneously with the act of sealing the lower portions of the capwill be deflected inwardly and upwardly under the locking shoulder ofthe jar and thus by the one single operation the act of sealing iscompleted. In thus sealing by this new method the pressure during thewhole operation is wholly or nearly so sustained by the support and theonly part of the jar which may have to sustain a crushing strain is thesmall part directly inclosed by the cap, and as this portion is forotherreasons always made heavier and stronger than the rest there ispractically no limit to the pressure which may be applied withoutfearOfcracking the jar. At the same time a superior lock is formed by thismethod of sealing inasmuch as the bending inwardly and upwardly of theportions of the cap which form the lock, takes the spring out of themetal and presses the very edges of 6;, seem/e as in the old method.

As my invention embodies a new method as well as a new apparatus I willpresent the same in separate applications, the present application beingrestricted. to the'subject matter of the apparatus alone and embracesaside from those features directly involved in carrying out my newmethod of sealing, certain features of construction relating to theformation of a vacuum and sealing in a vacuum, all as more fullyhereinafter described and shown in the accompanying drawings, in which-Figure 1, is sectional elevation of my apparatus; Fig. 2, is a plan viewthereof; Figs. 3 and 4: are vertical central sections through the topportion of the apparatus substantially in vertical planes on lines 3-3and an, respectively, of Fig. 6Fig. 3,'

illustrating the parts as in operation: Fig. 5, is another verticalsection like Fig. 3, illustrating the same parts as in a subsequentstage of the operation; Fig. 6, is a horizontal section in a plane online 66 in I Fig. 3; Fig. 7, is a detached perspective view of the capor band employed in sealing;

Fig. 8, is an enlarged sectional detail of a portion of the jar showingthe seal completed; and Fig. 9, is a section similar to Fig. 5'illustrating a modification of" the ap-- paratus as constructed. for usein sealing bottles,

For securing the best results I prefer to adopt the special form ofsealing device described in nay-former Letters iatent No. 7 11, 162 andthe apparatus as shown in the drawings specifically adapted for it, butit will be understood that the changes which must necessarily be made toadapt it to various other sealing devices of like character are merematters of detail. This sealing device as shown in the drawings, Figs. 1to (3,

consists of a metal cap A. composed oi hard metal such tinned iron plateand may be stamped from. sheet metal or formed by roll ing, and havingmore or less the character of a metal band t is torn'ied with aninwardly turned flange a lapted to press upon the rubber gasket d)employed in sealing and with depending portions (1 of suitabledin'iensions to be engaged with a locking shoulder (Z formed on the B tohold the cap in place upon the jar. In connection with this cap I use acover C which is seated upon the mouth oi the jar; The vertical portionof the cap between the llange a and depending portions 0 is alsopreferably corrugated as shown in Fig. In a jar sealed. with this devicethe cap presses directly tlj'ion the rubber gasket by means of theflange (.4 and presses it over the joint formed between the cover andthe mouth of 0 jar t ius mix a what ca an on si e th l tor 1 *l h tdseal as distinguished from an inside seal in which the rubber gasketwould be interposed between the cover and the jar.

The construction of my apparatus is as follows: Fastened in a suitablebase or bed plate D is an upright standard E which carries a lowerbracket :F swingingfupon the standard and carrying the lowersection G ofthe vacuum chamber, and an upper rigid bracket or head H which carriesthe upper section I of a vacuum chamber or'forms a partthereof. Thelower section G which is carried by the swinging bracket F is supportedthereon in vertlcal guide bearin s free to be raised and lowered in anysuitab e manner, the drawings showing a'lever J carried by the bracketand engaging with the vertical stub shaft 9 held in vertical guidehearings in the bracket F. 'The section G has removably secured uponits'bottoin a centering piece g of wood or other elastic material forthe support of the jar Within which centering piece is a removable padg? of rubber or other compressible material, and upon. its upper endsaid, 'sectionis provided with a packing ring g all so arranged that byfirst swinging the section G out from under the section I, thenintroducing the jar (with the sealing device in place upon it) andswinging the section G back again in position, the depressing of thelever J willraise the section Gr against the section I and thereby bringthe jar into position for seals ing while inclosed in an air tightchamber formed by the sections G, I; The upper section I communicateswith a device for ex hausting air, or as shown in the drawings, asmall'pump K for exhausting air by manual operation may be directlymounted upon it, and the section is also provided with an air cock L.

. M is a plunger rod passing through a vertical guide bearing in thehead of the upper section and pivotally secured at its upper end to alever l fulcrumed upon the section II. The lower end ofthis-plungerprojects into the top of the vacuum chamber-formed by the sections G andE and carries two heads 0 and 1, both having a limited sliding movementon the plunger rod. The head 0 which is carried above the head P is of alarger diameter than the head P and piston rod passes through the headwhich carries the section I in. the position of the parts shown in Figs.3 and 4:. The vertical movement of the heads O and P on the plunger rod,is limited by the before mentioned flange m and by a flange m formed orprovided on the lower end of the plunger rod. e

Secured within the lower end of the section I and seated against anannular horizontal flange R formed or provided on the inner wall of thesection I is a ring Q which is recessed upon its upper side to formhorizontal guide bearings for the sliding cap abutments 5, the guidebearing for the upper side of these abutments being formed by the flangeR. These sliding cap-abutments which are more fully shown in Fig. (3.when fully projected, close together along their inner edges and form acomplete ring, and these inner edges are peculiarly formed in that theyhave a concave bevel S. F urther these cap abutments have openings 8formed in them with which the depending fingers 0 are adapted toregister in such manner to cause the inclines of said fingers in theirdownward movement to project the supports against the tension of springsT suitably applied to hold them normally retracted.

Interposed between the flange R and the head 0 carried by the plungerrod are springs U (see Figs. 4 and 6) the tension of which presses thehead 0 upward and normally holds it in the position shown in Fig. 4. Asshown in the drawings, the head 0 is guided by means of vertical guiderods V secured upon the interior wall of the section I between theflanges R and IV thereof and pass through guide ears formed or providedfor on the head 0, the springs U being sleeved upon these guide rods.

In practice, after a jar is introduced into the vacuum chamber with thesealing devices placed in position thereon and the vacuum chamberclosed'by depressing the lever J and holding or looking it there, theparts are in the relativeposition shown in Fig. 3. The first stepin'sealing (if desired to seal under a vacuum) .is to exhaust the airand this accomplished the lever N is depressed. In thus depressing thelever N, the heads O and P will both be lowered. But the head 0 restingagainst shoulder or flange m will be forcibly depressed and causethefingers 0 carried by said head to actuate the sliding cap-abutments andproject them inwardlyso that their inner beveled ends are placeddirectly beneath the lower edges of the cap. Meanwhile the head P hasalso lowered upon the cap but being' free to slide on the plunger rod itwill at first seat itself upon the cap without bringing any pressurethereon and being somewhat loosely sleeved will adjust itself thereon inconformity with the shape of the cap. As soon, however, as thecap-abutments have been fully projected, andremain die.

down upon the rubber gasket, the cap itself will impinge with the-loweredges of its depending portions upon the concaved edges of the projectedcap abutments and the latter being held rigidly in position, will causesaid portions to deflect inwardly and upwardly under the lockingshoulder of the jar, thus operating as a stationary flangi-ng It will beunderstood that as soon as the depending clamping portions of the capare deflected inwardly and upwardly they will impinge against theshoulder on the jar and thus instead of the pressure being brought uponthe jar, the clamping portions will form a support for the jarand. takethe pressure off the body thereof. Further it will be seen that thetendency of the cap abutments is to turn the depending portions upwardlyat a very abrupt angle almost turning them back like a clench, and thusthe very lower edges of the depending portions will first contact withthe locking shoulder and then, the pressure upon the cap beingcontinued, they will be forced inwardly and flattened out. In thus beingflattened or opened out the spring or re siliency which may be left inthese portions tends to press them against the shoulder,

Whereas, in the old method 9f sealing, the tendency of these portions isin the opposite direction,away from the shoulder, and therefore when thepressure is removed from the jar at the end of the operation, the capwill have no tendency to loosen, and any comp'ressible substance, suchas heavy paste board, can be relied upon to make as perfect a seal as arubber gasket. After the sealing is completed the ,air cock is opened toadmit air to the chamber that it may be opened to allow the jar to beremoved.

I have shown'my apparatus as constructed in its more simple form but itis obvious that my invention may be employed in constructing anapparatus of larger capacity.

To adapt my apparatus "to other sealing devices of like character,requires but an obvious change of some of the minor details, thus inFig. 9, I show a well known sealing device particularly adapted forsealingbottles and comprising a metallic cap A of the same character asbefore described and a compressible disk '6. Beyond a change in the sizeand proportion of the parts, there is no change required in the device,in adapting it to conform to this cap.

The depending clamping portions of the cap may be three or more innumber and it is obvious that a like number of independent cap supportstherefor, may be provided in the apparatus, it ishowever an advantage tofornra complete ring support composed of few sliding sections to avoidthe necessity therefore accomplish the same result.

My apparatus is not limited in. its applica tion tov such sealingdevices in which a com pressible disk. or gasket is used, as it willwork quite as well without as far as fastening the cap is concerned bysupporting the jar yieldingly. This may be done by placing a rubbercushion below the jar of sufficient capacity to allow the jar and captoyieldboth together a sufficient distance in pressing to effect theformation of a flange on the cap in the manner described and such acushion may be obviously used in connection with such sealing devices inWlllClTI the compressible d sk or rubber gasket does not yield enoughundercompression to form a clamping flange of desired size for clamping.

Having thus. fully described my invention, what I claim is 1. In asealing apparatus, the -com bination of a chamber adapted to inclose thejar and composed of a fixed upper and a movable lower section, means formoving said lower section in and out of position, a jar support in thelower section, a pressure head in the upper section for applyingdownward pressure upon the top of a metallic sealing cap supported onthe head of the 'jar, an abutment for the cap located within the uppersection. and composed of radially movable sections, and means foractuating said sections and applying pressure to the pressure head, saidmeans actuating the sections in advance of the pressure head.

2. In a jar sealing apparatus, the combination of a casing adapted toinclose the jar and composed of a fixed upper and a movable lowersection forming the support of the jar, a pressure head in the uppersectionfor applying downward pressure upon the top of a metallic sealingcap supported on the head of the jar by the sealing me dium, and anannular abutment in the upper section composed of radially movablesections adapted to be actuated beneath the shoulder of the jar inadvance of the pres formed with depending ortions, of a pressure headabove the cap or applying downward pressure upon the top of the cap andan annular abutment below the cap located in relation to a lockingshoulder on the jar and adapted to operate as a stationary flanging dieto force the lower edges of the depending flanges into clamping contactwith the locking shoulder on the jar, said abutment composed ofcomplimentary sections supported in horizontal guide bearings and meansfor collectively moving said sections in and out of operative position,said means adapted to lock said sections in the operative position ofthe same.

4. In a jar sealing apparatus, the combination with a suitable supportfor the jar and metallic sealing cap supported on the head thereof andhaving a vertical flange formed with depending portions, of-a pressurehead above the cap conforming to the shape of the cap and adapted tobear upon the top thereof, a plunger carrying said head and upon whichsaid head has a limited sliding movement, an annular abutment below thecap composed of complementary sections supported in horizontal guidebearings and means operated by the plungerfor collectively moving saidsections in and out of operative position independently of any movementof the pressure head and adapted to lock said sections in their advancedposition during the movement of said pressure head, the abutmentcomposed of said sections located in reference to a locking'shoulder inthe jar and adapted to operate as a stationary Hanging die upon thelower edge of the depending flanges of the cap in the advanced positionof said sections 5. In a jar sealing apparatus, the combination with asuitable support for the jar and metallic sealing cap supported on thehead thereof; of a pressure head adapted to bear upon the top of thecap, a plunger carrying said head and upon which said head has alimitedv vertical play in the downward movement of said plunger, a leverfor actuatin g said plunger, means for holding said lever in a normallyraised position, an annular abutment composed of radially slidablesections located in a horizontal plane in relation to the lockingshoulder on the jar and adapted to operate in their advanced positionasa stationary fianging die upon the lower edge of the depending flangeof the cap or portions thereoffin sealing the cap, means to holdsaidsections in a normally retracted position and means operated by theplunger to advance said sections and lock the same in their advancedposition in advance of the movement of the pressure head in the downwardmovement of the plunger in applying pressure to the cap for sealing itupon tllGaiflI'.

6. In sealing apparatus, the comb;-

. sure upon the top of a metallic sealing cap supported on the head ofthe jar and adapted to be fastened to a locking shoulder thereon,

1 of an abutment composed of radially slidable sections supported inhorizontal guide bearings in relation to the looking shoulder on the jarand adapted to form in their advanced position a stationary fianging diefor thelower edge of the depending flange of the cap or portion thereofby the pressure applied to the top of the cap and means operated by themovement of a single lever to move said sections in and out of operativeposition and to apply downward pressure to the pressure head, sald meansoperating to project said sections in advance of the pressure head andto lock the same in their advanced position during the movement of thesame.

In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in presence of two Witnesses.

OTTO F. BARTHEL, THOMAS Gr. LONGSTAFF.

